Unlocking peak wellness in midlife can be challenging.
In my last post, I shared 8 Common Myths About Protein that most of us in our mid-30s to 50s often worry about.
If you are thinking, “Wait a second, don’t high-protein diets cause kidney disease and cancer?” you need to read this post first.
It's scary how many people in their midlife think they should eat less protein. But the truth is we should be eating more.
When working with health coaching clients, one of the first questions I often get is, “Where should I start with my diet so I can feel better, have more energy and keep up with my kids?"
The answer to that question is protein.
As we age, protein becomes even more valuable because it plays a crucial role in our health and longevity.
Why is protein so essential?
Proteins (amino acids) are the building blocks of life. They build everything in your body, from your red blood cells (that carry oxygen and nutrients around your body), hormones that support energy and satiety, immune cells that fight off bacteria, neurotransmitters that influence your emotions and thoughts, and muscles that control your movements and longevity.
The busier and more active you are, the more protein your body will need to sustain your overall health.
If you're like me, midlife has a hectic schedule.
5 Reasons Why We Need More Protein in Midlife
1. Increased Longevity:
Building and maintaining our lean muscle mass (LMM) becomes harder as we age. Your LMM predicts your life expectancy - the more you have, the longer you'll live.
There is some truth behind the saying, “Strong people are harder to kill."
Physical activity levels and nutrition are critical factors in building and maintaining LMM. A high protein diet can help to prevent LMM breakdown.
Muscle is metabolic, so the more muscle you have, the faster your metabolism will run. This means you get to eat more without putting on body fat, which means you can get more vitamins, minerals and critical nutrients into your body so it can thrive.
But if you fail to eat enough, your body starts to break down your LMM, slowing down your metabolism.
A common problem with a lot of tending fad diets is that the weight loss comes from the breakdown of LMM. The weight on the scale is going down, but you are not losing as much body fat as you think. You gain more weight once you stop the diet because your metabolism has slowed. Hence the term yo-yo diets.
2. Better Body Composition:
There is a significant amount of evidence indicating that high-protein diets can be effective for losing body fat. Protein is more satiating than fat and carbohydrates, making us feel more satisfied when we consume it.
Feeling more satisfied naturally results in eating less and losing weight without intentional effort.
For instance, a study conducted by Dr. Stephan Guyenet et al. placed overweight volunteers in an environment with controlled food intake. After increasing their protein intake from 15% to 30% of calories, participants ate 440 fewer calories daily and lost an average of 5kg over 12 weeks without counting calories or intentionally eating less. This study was discovered by
At the time of writing this article, 537 million adults (20-79 years) are living with diabetes - 1 in 10. 90% of the reversal effect of diabetes comes from weight loss, which is significantly controlled by our diet.
Recent research suggests that low-carb diets may be effective for weight loss not only because they are low in carbohydrates but also because they are generally high in protein.
3. Improve Metabolic Health
High-protein diets have been proven to stabilise blood sugar levels and lead to positive changes in various metabolic, cardiovascular, and inflammatory markers.
These changes include improved insulin sensitivity, lower levels of cholesterol and triglycerides, and reduced levels of C-reactive protein. (1, 2).
4. Supports Physical Activity
Protein is the nutrient required to build and rebuild muscle. You should consume more protein to add or maintain muscle mass (i.e., endurance athlete, weightlifter, CrossFit, or train hard in other activities or sports).
As we age, our physical activity levels often decline, which might be due to insufficient energy, strength, or even capacity to exercise or recover from exercise.
A change in your diet can give you the energy and motivation you need to increase your physical activity.
This could be linked to a diet low in calories or proteins.
5. Manage Stress
As mentioned above, protein stabilises blood sugar, which is essential because high-stress levels can cause hypoglycaemia or other blood sugar imbalances.
Increasing protein intake, especially in the morning (breakfast of champions), can boost energy levels, reduce jitteriness, agitation, mood swings, improve sleep, and sharpen brain function.
I have seen this repeatedly in my work with my health coaching clients.
When you are under chronic stress, your body’s tissues start to break down, which stress researchers call “wear and tear” on the body’s allostatic load. This tissue breakdown is partly caused by collagen proteins being used up faster than replaced.
Therefore, eating proteins or supplements with collagen is imperative if you are under a lot of stress.
How Much Protein Do You Need?
The RDA for protein is 0.8g per kg of body weight per day. A significant amount of new research shows that this amount is far too low, and for optimal health, you need to eat between 1.5-2.0g per kg of body weight per day.
Consuming between 20-35% of calories from protein daily is a good starting place for most middle-aged people.
If you belong to any of the above categories, I recommend consuming between 20% to 35% of your daily calorie intake from protein.
The higher end of this range (30-35%) is suitable for people aiming for aggressive weight loss, having metabolic problems or doing intense training.
The middle range (25-30%) is recommended for athletes and those who train at moderate to vigorous intensity, while the lower end (20-25%) is suitable for more sedentary people and people experiencing high-stress levels.
However, these are general guidelines, and it is suggested that you try out different ranges to figure out what works best for you.
This is quite possibly much more protein than you’re eating now. Here are some examples to consider:
Let’s take a look at a typical day’s protein intake for midlife:
Breakfast: 2 eggs, sauerkraut, steamed vegetables. Approximately 15g of protein.
Lunch: Salad with 85-170g of chicken breast. Approximately 30–60 grams.
Snack: Handful of almonds (about 23 almonds). Approximately 6 grams.
Dinner: 120-230g of sirloin steak, sweet potato, steamed broccoli. Approximately 35–70 grams.
That's a total of 86-151g of protein, or 16–27% of calories on a 2,200 calorie diet or 11–20% of calories on a 3,000 calorie diet.
As you can see from the table above, protein intake falls short for most categories, particularly if you’re consuming around 3,000 calories or aiming for more than 25% of calories from protein.
Eating protein at every meal is strongly recommended as it helps to keep us full, stabilise our blood sugar levels, increase our energy levels, improve sleep, balance our hormones, maintain our lean muscle and strength, improve our body composition, manage stress and so much more.
Can you really afford not to eat enough protein?
When it comes to creating a sustainable diet, the number one thing you can do is to make sure you're hitting 1.5-2.0g of protein per kg of body weight per day.
Conclusion
In conclusion, contrary to the fear of high-protein diets causing kidney disease and cancer, individuals should focus on increasing their protein consumption in midlife. More protein is crucial because it plays a key role in increased longevity, better body composition, improved metabolic health, support for physical activity, and stress management.
A daily protein intake ranging from 1.5-2.0g per kg of body weight, challenging the conventional RDA guidelines, but prioritising protein intake is recommended for peak health and performance. Optimal wellness in midlife begins with meeting the body's protein needs.